Oba Femi expected a war with Brock Lesnar at WWE SummerSlam. He did not expect The Beast to hug him, raise his arm and publicly call him the future of WWE after it was over.
Femi defeated Lesnar inside Hell in a Cell during the main event of SummerSlam Night One, surviving three F5s, repeated chair shots and a tombstone piledriver onto the exposed wooden boards beneath the ring.
After the match, Lesnar returned to the ring and gave Femi the clearest endorsement possible. He embraced the 28-year-old powerhouse, raised his arm and told the Minneapolis crowd that Femi represented WWE’s future. Speaking after the event, Femi admitted that the moment completely caught him by surprise.
“The hug and the public endorsement was definitely a swerve. I did not see that coming.”
Femi said the respect between them was always there, even while they spent months trying to destroy each other. The match ended after Femi survived Lesnar’s most brutal punishment and connected with another Fall From Grace to score the victory. Even Femi wasn’t sure how he kept going after everything Lesnar threw at him.
“I knew that deep down Brock has always respected me. He knows that deep down, I respect him as well.”
“I don’t know how I survived.”
He then made it clear that Lesnar’s endorsement was not just a nice moment after the bell. Femi believes his time at the top has already arrived.
“The truth is this: the future is not far away. The future is now. The future is me.”
The victory also handed Lesnar the first Hell in a Cell loss of his career. That made the result even bigger for Femi, who entered SummerSlam looking to win the rubber match and left with a career-defining victory over one of WWE’s most protected stars.
Lesnar had defeated Femi at Clash in Italy after losing their first match at WrestleMania 42. Their third fight ended with Femi standing tall and Lesnar openly passing the torch in front of his hometown crowd.
WWE could not have made the message much clearer. Femi beat Lesnar in the match where The Beast had never lost, survived everything thrown at him and then received Lesnar’s public approval after the bell.
Do you think Oba Femi is ready to become WWE’s next top star after Brock Lesnar’s endorsement? Leave your feedback in the comments.
